Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: Oct. 2nd through Oct. 8th

October 1, 2016 JanF Community 139

Welcome to The Moose Pond! The Welcomings posts give the Moose, old and new, a place to visit and share words about the weather, life, the world at large and the small parts of Moosylvania that we each inhabit.

Welcomings will be posted at the start of each week (every Sunday morning). To find the posts, just bookmark this link and Voila! (which is Moose for “I found everyone!!”).

The format is simple: each day, the first moose to arrive on-line will post a comment welcoming the new day and complaining (or bragging!) about their weather. Or mentioning an interesting or thought provoking news item. Or simply checking in.

So … what’s going on in your part of Moosylvania?

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NOTE: The comments page will now split off after 20 or so left margin comments with the most recent comments on the current page. To see the older comments, scroll to the bottom of the page and use the link.

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48 Comments

  1. Cloud cover overnight kept it at 70 but the sun is shining at the moment anyway and we’re headed for mid 80s. (Did get 10 KWHs yesterday – not great but as good as I’m going to get unless the leaves drop soon.) Cold front moving in early tomorrow morning which will give us 70s/40s through the weekend. I might even light a fire this weekend. Not likely, but possible. :)

    This is such an important election. We are truly fighting for the soul of our country and the future of the planet. Which is why it’s so easy to freak out at the thought of not winning. But we’ve got the numbers and we’ve got the ground game. We can, we will, do this.

    Need to get some work done. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

    • Ana Navarro is a Republican who became a #NeverTrump’er. I follow her on Twitter because she rips into the vulgar talking yam in ways that only a Republican, and only a Latina, can.

  3. Good morning, 50 and mostly cloudy in Bellingham. I’m going to focus on one small task I can finish today, and fortunately I’ve got lots of choices. Maintaining a focus will be the challenge as my thoughts are already wandering.

    Have a good day everyone!

  4. Here is another demographic group not happy with Trumpism:

    Clinton Holds 41-Point Lead Over Trump Among Asian-American Voters: Survey

    Hillary Clinton holds a 41-point lead over Donald Trump among Asian-American registered voters headed into November’s presidential election, according to a survey released Wednesday.

    The Fall 2016 National Asian American Survey, taken between Aug. 10 and Sept. 29 in 11 different languages, found that 55 percent of registered voters intended to vote for Clinton compared to 14 percent for Trump. Eight percent intended to vote for a different candidate, and 16 percent had not yet decided, according to the survey.

    And this was before the Republican Party’s cable channel, Fox News, broadcast their offensive anti-Asian message. That might be a “Machada Moment” for the fastest growing demographic group in America.

    • Really interesting – the uptick for Democrats with Vietnamese especially – since they have been more
      Republican

      • Wisconsin has a fairly large Hmong population and many of them vote Republican because of the Republican Party’s supposed track record with small businesses. I think “Republicans are for business” is clashing with “Republicans embrace racists and are anti-immigrant” to shift the vote. What good is an extra few dollars in your pocket if your children are being targeted by the hate mobs because of their race and ethnicity? In my mind, the “Republicans are for business” is a lie, one that seems impossible to dislodge. They are for big business and are the party of the oligarchs. The last 7 years under a Democratic president and a Democratic administration were the best for small businesses in a long time. But the lies of Reagan are zombie lies – they seemingly never die.

        • this. just, wow, this

          But the lies of Reagan are zombie lies – they seemingly never die.

  6. Good Friday Morning Meese

    Good news from my favorite polling firm – Latino Decisions

    The response is great from both genders – however they have looked at Latinas

    Latina vote

    Woot!

    • I was particularly impressed by the uptick in Florida – an 18 point bounce for Hillary! Since the bounce nationwide was only about 7 points, it must be attributed to ads she is running there that remind Latino voters how awful Trump is. NOW we have to get folks to the polls. Hurricane Matthew disrupting Florida’s election process – effectively chopping off the last 5 days of registration for those forced to evacuate – could effect the vote.

      • Since Hillary has had a huge number of boots on the ground in FL – as have other groups like Voto Latino – the cut off on registrations is actually going to hurt Trump more imho – since he has had almost no boots on the ground – preferring to do big rallies.

        Some numbers from Voto Latino:

        The group’s top four states for registrations were Texas (20,483 new voters), California (13,394), Florida (10,565) and North Carolina (6,297). Just 2 percent of the Tar Heel State’s registered voters are Hispanic, roughly 135,000 out of more than 6.4 million as of February, according to the nonpartisan Pew Research Center.

        This article from Sept 1 is very telling

        While Hillary Clinton touts 51 Florida field offices, Donald Trump still has just one
        http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/while-hillary-clinton-touts-51-florida-field-offices-donald-trump-still/2291861

        SARASOTA — On Aug. 8, the Donald Trump campaign said its first two dozen campaign field offices would open across Florida within two weeks.
        Since then, not a single new Trump office has opened in America’s biggest battleground state, but Hillary Clinton’s campaign added another 32.

        The Republican nominee only has a Sarasota statewide headquarters open in the state he absolutely must win to be elected president, while the Democratic nominee has 51 offices even though she has multiple paths to winning that don’t require Florida’s 29 electoral votes.

        “We are running a 67-county strategy. We’re not taking any vote for granted, and that includes making sure we are within the communities where the people are that support this campaign,” said Simone Ward, Clinton’s Tampa-based Florida campaign director. “You’ve got to build a strong ground game, and you can’t wait until the last minute to do that.”

        This is what impressed me – the anthropologist the most:

        The Clinton campaign is targeting Florida’s diverse electorate with at least a quarter of its paid staff speaking Spanish or Creole, and a dozen coalition directors concentrating on specific constituencies: LGBT, millennials, veterans, seniors, Hispanics, African-Americans, Caribbeans, Jewish, labor and Muslims.

  7. Good morning, meese! Friday …

    It is 64 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 55. It stormed off and on during the night and morning showers will give way to sunshine.

    The Nobel peace prize was given to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos who brokered an end to a 52 year war with leftist rebels in his country – only to have it rejected by a thin majority of the voting population. The two sides are still trying to work out a deal that will address the concerns of the “No” voters.

    The Columbian “No” vote is a reminder to everyone that POLLS ARE NOT VOTES!! Polls showed “Yes” winning by a large margin. Yesterday, 538 posted a giddy election forecast showing that Hillary has an 89% chance of winning. It is fun but not helpful as we try to get people to vote. I saw Chris Savage on Twitter yesterday upset that the Michigan polls showed Hillary ahead by 11%. His concern, as it should be for all of us, is that polls showing a huge victory will allow people to stay home because “the election is in the bag”. No, it is not. This weekend Paul Ryan will be campaigning with Donald Trump in Wisconsin – he obviously still thinks that Trump can win. And this is what Ryan has in mind for us:

    legislation throwing tens of millions of people out of their health coverage, abolishing inheritance taxes and giving top earners still more tax benefits, shredding the safety net, killing Planned Parenthood funding

    If Trump wins, it means that Democrats stayed home. Which means that we will have lost the Senate and made no gains in the House.

    See all y’all later!

    • The get people to the polls efforts – are key. I’ve been following groups like Democracy North Carolina – and “Souls to the Polls” 2016.

      Jan – Am wondering about efforts in WI to help voters get ID – given your new laws.

      • VoteRiders are doing a phenomenal job here, getting IDs for people. And even more importantly, they documented the chaos at the DMV sites charged with giving out the free voting ids – ids that the Attorney General promised the 7th Circuit in the last appeal there – and they sued to have the voter id law suspended for this election. Federal district court Judge Peterson has scheduled a hearing for next Wednesday to hear both sides. I predict that he goes along with the suspension, it gets appealed to the 7th Circuit who will not react well to the AG lying to them and that an appeal to SCOTUS is rejected.

  8. So sad about Haiti & Jamaica. Saw the devastation on the morning news. I’m guessing there’ll be a Shelterbox fundraiser soon. And my church will probably have a special donation for hurricane relief. The good thing about big, established mainline churches is that donations like that, 100% goes to actual aid, because the overhead/bureaucratic stuff is already in place & paid for.

    Love this article from Media Matters: The Media And Clinton’s Invisible Supporters, about how much gets written about Trump’s supporters & Clinton’s supporters are dismissed with “unenthusiastic”. Also love the good news about early voting.

    • I have been following the early voting Tweets and Iowa Democrats, in particular, seems to be enthusiastic to early vote. I am not sure if Patty Judge has any chance to unseat Chuck Assley but if Hillary wins in a landslide, there will be a lot of Republicans washed away. I saw an article on 538 by Harry Enten that said the Democrats could pick up as many as 7 Senate seats under the right conditions (Iowa was not included). That would be great because in 2018 we are defending a lot of seats won in 2012.

  9. eyeroll
    I posted an article on FB about the misogyny specific to older women & Hillary Clinton & one of my Bernie Bro friends promptly proved the point of the article with his reply

    • I just finished an article by Ed Kilgore at NyMag who points this out:

      Enthusiasm for a candidate is nice, but once you get beyond the threshold of motivation necessary to decide to vote, it’s not terribly essential.

      Indeed. An “I wish it were someone else” vote for Hillary is still a vote for Hillary. After it is cast, the reason for it is simply fodder for pundit click bait “think” pieces on Nov. 9th.

  10. Got just under 60 overnight with about 1/4″ rain – just over 60 now and pretty much going to stay that way all day. Cloudy but light enough I’m generating a little bit. (A very little bit.) ‘Spozed to go down to 39 tonight. I may end up lighting my first fire of the season when I get home. :)

    Hillary is being Hillary, goddess bless her, and showing both appropriate concern and appropriate behavior regarding the hurricane – yes, it could impact the vote but we’re talking about people’s lives right now so she’s not going to mention the election – just supporting the president’s responses to the emergency. I’m more following the live blog at GOS than anything else today. My brother is in Tallahassee and while I haven’t heard from him, Tallahassee kossacks have checked in so he should be OK. There are a bunch of kossacks on the east coast though. Most of them are trying to check in as power allows.

    Also got to get some work done. I do get paid for it after all. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

    • 39?!?!? I’m still not wearing long sleeves & no need for them in the forecast. Sigh.

      • I guess I’m just far enough north of where you are that you’re not getting it. Usually I can say Fayetteville weather is just like Austin’s weather only 10 degrees cooler. Hope it gets cool enough to be comfortable for you soon.

  11. Good morning, 54 windy and raining in Bellingham. A local tv station is showing a pep rally at our grandson’s high school……so fun to see Ryan playing his french horn with the pep band. A noisy start to my day though :)

    I’m going to the pool this morning, and hope to edit more fabric this afternoon. We’re just moving things in my sewing room and painting as we go so it’s a slow process but it’s getting done. And the freshly painted walls look so nice. If I can keep up with my end of the fabric shuffle my newly renovated room will be even more comfortable and creative. Hard to believe I started sewing in that room in 1988. No wonder there’s so much stuff!

  12. Morning all, just checking in from Florida – all is well in my neck of the woods. I stayed up very late, long enough to see that the hurricane was tracking far enough west that my area was completely out of the “cone of uncertainty”. So I just got up a little while ago. We’ve had raid and gusts of wind from storm bands all night, but nothing too bad, and, most importantly, the power never went out, so all is good here.

    Everyone have a great day!

    • Good news! I heard that South Florida was not hit as badly as was expected either making Gov. Scott’s refusal to extend the registration deadline less of an issue.

    • I avoided this video last night and I will avoid it for a while longer. I can’t see or hear the latest words of the Republican Party’s nominee without getting sick to my stomach. I hope Team Hillary understands that this incident, and many men’s reaction to it (“boys will be boys!”), is causing a lot of pain to women. It needs to be reported but in a way that does not make vulnerable people afraid to turn on their TVs. We have a message to get out about the future of our country – we can’t let it get buried under the horrifying comments and actions of the vulgar talking yam.

      • Hillary is doing both – she’s got positive messages going and she has response to Trump bullshit – – since this video doesn’t only deal with his latest comments and covers opp. to Roe v Wade, women working, pregnancy etc – I think it is excellent.

        • I steeled myself and viewed it. It has some great images of people voting in response to the attacks.

          Voting is really the only logical response. As President Obama says “Don’t boo, vote!”

  15. Good morning, meese! Saturday …

    It is 41 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 57. Sunny skies are in the forecast.

    The 2016 Election has officially become unwatchable. I am not even taking pleasure in watching the Republicans squirm as they continue to endorse their nominee despite his unfitness to hold the highest office in the land. The religious right came right out and said that they don’t care – the Supreme Court is the most important thing. It is one thing to be anti-Democrat – fine, stay home – but to encourage your congregations to vote for a man whose definition of privilege means he can grab any woman who comes into his sphere of influence? They have about a 10% chance of winning and a 100% chance of leaving a permanent blemish on their souls. And, please, Republicans, spare me your “we luv our wimmins” speeches!! Paul Ryan reminded us what Republicans think of women – they are to be “revered” … hmmm. How about “treated as equals” … how about “trusted to make decisions about their own bodies”. Nope, no room in the Republican view of women for that sort of respect. This election really lays out Republican values in a stark way. We can see clearly their views of black people, Asians, Latinos, Muslims, Jewish people, LGBT, and women. There is no idea, no comment, no policy so henious that it would disqualify their candidate as long as he promises to sign Paul Ryan’s budget and appoint Scalias to the Supreme Court.

    The president early voted yesterday in Chicago but refused to share his picks! I have a pretty good idea who he voted for. His weekly address is on strengthening our economy. Last week he wrote an opinion piece for The Economist with his thought on the way forward for our economy … I will include it in the comments.

    See all y’all later!

    • Trump has only highlighted the slime that is the Republican Party and most of its supporters.
      I want to see a stronger GOTV effort – I am hoping we can tip the Senate.

      Anything that loses a vote for Trump is a plus for us.

      • I want them all to stay home so that we take back Congress. They won’t, of course, and the Republican “leaders” realize that it is too late to reverse course on their endorsement of their nominee. By the way, their “Pence will save us!” is hilarious; Pence was running in the primary – he is Walker and Cruz and Huckabee all rolled into one ugly walking advertisement to vote for Democrats. “Perfect Nominee” lost to con artist – a fitting end to the political party that should burn to the ground so that the Party of Lincoln can have a final epitaph – 1857 to 1964 – and the hijacking of the party built to end slavery and oppression is stopped once and for all.

  16. Up for ungodly hour workout. I cannot believe people are calling Trump’s statement an apology. There’s nothing apologetic about it. Anyway, I’ll be back later.

    • I haven’t read the morning news yet. I have been sitting here by the purple pond away from the noise, reading about Michelle Obama’s garden and listening to the president talk about the economy. I am not sure when I will open my news tabs. This latest thing has really shaken me, anotherdemocrat. I have a very low threshold for dealing with unfairness and the fact that our candidate is not ahead by 80 points is the most unfair thing I have witnessed in a very long time. There is so much hatred coming at us in this election I am not sure that my shields are up to the task.

  17. Good morning, Meese! Blessed rain is wetting the streets on this gray Saturn’s Day, and the temp. is an agreeable 64 F. outside, going up to 66 F. later.

    Sorry to be missing in action yesterday. After fasting for 12 hours I had to hotfoot it to the lab in the early morning to have blood drawn for tests. Came home to make breakfast for Miss Pink Cheeks, who said she wanted to eat that meal at Grandma’s house. (She knows she gets the royal treatment over here.) Then her father picked her up to take her to Newport News to pick up a dog, which Miss PC has been wanting forever and ever.

    After that we went to World Market, came home for lunch, and then had to race to pick up Babylicious from day care. The three of us then made our way through rush-hour traffic to Elder Son’s house, where we were to help look after Mr. Newbaby as his mother is in Europe.

    We didn’t get home until past 8 last night. Today we hope to do absolutely NOTHING. I have tons of writing to do but am not sure I feel up to it. Tomorrow will be busy and I felt so sorry for Elder Son I’ve invited him and Mr. Newbaby for dinner.

    Feel “gobsmacked,” as the British say, by the latest revelation about Trump, and even more revolted by the Rethugs who are standing by him. Apparently Fox News and Ms. Kelly took out after a 15-year-old girl at one of Hillary’s town halls asked what she would do to stop body-shaming. I now despise Ms. Kelly even more than I did before.

    Yes, Jan, this election has become unwatchable, but I’m still going to watch the debate tomorrow night. Will there be a third one? Dear Goddess, it’s not even 9 a.m. and I’ve already got a headache!

    Wishing everyone a nice, quiet day.

    • I am sure there will be a third debate since that one will be conducted in the safe confines of Ailesville – with Fox “News” Chris Wallace as moderator.

      I won’t watch the townhall debate live. For one thing, my football team will be playing and, for another, I was reminded with the VP debate that watching people attacking my candidates is not conducive to good sleep. I will “watch” on Twitter and mute everyone who is not telling me that Hillary is Full of Win. :) I will watch it when I can fast forward through the icky parts.

  18. Not sure of the temp this morning – chilly is all I can say – my hands and feet hurt when I go outside. Lit the fire last night and relit this morning which means the den and dining area are a toasty mid-70s. Supposed to get to upper 70s outside today, so probably won’t relight when I get home from Dem HQ. Sunny so hoping for at least 10 KWHs (more would be nice as I only got 4 yesterday).

    I don’t know why anybody is surprised at the newest on Trump – he’s that kind of man. But I’m really glad I got rid of my TV years back. I’ll get my political news from the Moose and HNV at GOS. It’s easier on my tummy.

    Need to get some stuff done before I head out to Dem HQ – 5 more Saturdays counting today. And coffee. Need more coffee. :) Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  19. Good morning, 50 and raining in Bellingham. Losing the big maple tree has changed our back garden, but I think I have a plan that will restore some screening and privacy from the street and the uphill houses. As soon as the rain lets up I want to go to a nursery in the county and look for a large vine maple, a smaller sized evergreen tree, some native huckleberry, a red twig dogwood, and two sturdy tall pots. I’ll plant the containers with native plants so they won’t require too much upkeep. I hesitate to add any more containers to the garden, but with the narrow spaces they give me a place to add plants and create a focal point.

    It’s a bigger gardening project than I want to do, but focusing on the garden is helping me cope with yam revulsion.

    • Sounds wonderful, princesspat!

      You mentioned a huckleberry. I use huckleberry hand cream, which seems to help my eczema a lot. Will your tree have berries on it during the appropriate season?

  20. Good day all. Sunny and calm here in the aftermath of the storm – debris all over the yard which I don’t have the energy to pick up. My yard guys will be here Monday I hope to do it for me.

    The last 24 hours are about the most remarkable in any political season I can remember – but of course, the shock and outrage of Republicans at that disgusting video tape are laughable. As many have said, it’s like the moment in Casablanca: “I’m shocked, shocked to discover gambling is going on in this nightclub!” “Here are your winnings, sir” “Oh, thank you.” The hypocrisy is almost as sickening as Trump’s self admitted pattern of sexual assault on that tape. And Trump’s “apology” is really a declaration that he’s going to go straight to the gutter and try to use Bill Clinton’s sexual past to drag Hillary down to his level. It won’t work. It didn’t work in the 90’s – her popularity soared as we witnessed her pain and then her strength in holding her marriage together while undoubtedly holding her husband to account privately. I have no doubt that Hillary is prepared to respond to whatever mud the Donald throws tomorrow in that town hall.

    One thing on twitter that has really struck me is men saying “no, this is NOT locker room talk, we DON’T talk this way among ourselves when women aren’t around.” I found myself almost tearing up reading some of those tweets, because of course, I couldn’t help wondering for just a second, watching that awful tape, “is THIS what men talk about when we’re not there?”

    Dee, thanks so much for the link to the wonderful Pantsuit Flashmob for Hillary video – I have been replaying it continuously this morning, just to clear my eyes and ears of Trump ugliness. I’m also going to listen to my opera broadcast this afternoon – Semiramide by Rossini, should be beautiful.

    32 days folks – she’s got this, and we’ve got her back. Have a great day everyone!

    • Geordie, what’s the backstory on the opera “Semiramide” by Rossini?

      There are a couple of lines in Dante Rossetti’s “Burden of Nineveh”:

      Beneath thy shadow, haply once
      Sennacherib has knelt, whose sons
      Smote him between the altar stones,
      And pale Semiramis, her zones
      Of gold and incense brought to thee:
      In love for grace, in war for aid…

      Could “Semiramide” refer to the Assyrian Semiramis?

      • It’s set in ancient Babylonia, but I don’t know how much of the story comes from mythology or where Rossini got the names of the characters. Semiramide is the queen who killed her husband and ends up getting killed by her son – very Oedipus stuff.

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